Ok, I'll set the background. I'm about 195lbs at 5'11''. I've taken judo, Brazilian jujitsu, tkd, kungfu, and a few other arts. I'm not much to sneeze at and I knw my stuff. My buddy does the pretty much the same but with only one differece between us, he's built solid like a mac truck. When we spar against each other its more like a hight speed chase. I had plenty of people say that I should stand my ground and use tatics, while they simply do the same. He's very intimidating. So question is how do you deal with your mack trucks? I don't want to hear from mack trucks themelves because I already know you have an advantage. I want to hear from others who dealt with them? How do you deal with a charging bull?

oizuki, ive seen a japanese karate sensei, i forget the name but will find out if you request that demonstrated the power of oizuki by literally jumping in a bullring with a very large powerful bull and waiting there to get charged at then,he just stood there and as the bull charged at him he did oizuki and killed it instantly

[QUOTE]Originally posted by karate-do:oizuki, ive seen a japanese karate sensei, i forget the name but will find out if you request that demonstrated the power of oizuki by literally jumping in a bullring with a very large powerful bull and waiting there to get charged at then,he just stood there and as the bull charged at him he did oizuki and killed it instantly[/QUOTE]

Not quite b******t, but certainly worth questioning. The karate man was Masutatsu Oyama, founder of kyokushinkai. There ARE pictures of him killing a bull with a punch to the skull AND of him chopping a horn off with shuto. Some of these pictures were published in his first book. (This is Karate is the title I think.)

I have heard tell that the conditions of this "contest" (ridiculous and cruel if you ask me) were less than fair and that the bull was small and old. In fairness, Oyama was a very strong man and kyokushin is very strong karate. As I get older, however, I do question the validity of some of these legends.

Did he kill a bull? Yes, that seems to be documented. Is it really that impressive? I don't know. Is it relevant to this thread? Well, Oyama was often described as something of a bull himself, so perhaps this is not the best strategy for smaller guys like me.

If Oyama, who was no doubt a strong karateka, faced a strong bull that was charging at him, and hit him with oi-zuki (or any technique for that matter) the mess of a human being that would be left would be hardly recognizable as either animal, mineral, or vegetable.

I agree with your assessment. Any real bull worth his salt would have killed Oyama, quite literally.

Mas Oyama was a strong karateka AND a master of self promotion. The cultish way in which some Kyokushin stylists revere him is a little disturbing. (He has been called "the God Hand" and the "God of Karate" by his students. To be honest, while I admire kyokushin as a potent form of karate, I have not found the footage I have seen of Oyama himself to be overly impressive.) I believe the "bull thing" to be more of this marketing.

Again, I do not mean to propagate myths and legends. (I think the martial arts world has enough hucksters, the kind who lie on a bed of nails, have cement broken over them and call it "ki.") Oyama's bullfight was no doubt a publicity stunt performed under very strict conditions. I just wanted to mention that, in whatever form, it really happened.

In case you've never seen some of the pictures, here's a link to a few. (Consider them a curiosity or a well orchestrated and misleading demo.) Again, I agree that Oyama could never have stood against a charging bull.